The U.S. Department of Commerce announces that the United States welcomed 5.6 million international visitors in January 2017, a two percent increase in arrivals when compared to January 2016. It marked the first month of growth in total U.S. visits since June 2016.
HIGHLIGHTS(1)
Top Inbound International Markets
- The top inbound markets continued to be Mexico and Canada. Mexico recorded 1.5 million visits to the United States in January 2017, an increase of two percent. At the same time, overnight volume from Canada totaled 1.5 million visitors, a nine percent increase compared to January 2016. The People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong) (+16.6 percent), Japan (-3.2 percent), and the United Kingdom (-9.0 percent) rounded out the top five inbound markets.
- In January 2017, five of the top 10 countries posted increases in non-resident visits. Non-resident visitation from two of the top 10 countriesregistered double-digit increases.
| Mexico | 2 |
| Canada | 9 |
| People's Republic of China (excluding HK) | 17 |
| Japan | -3 |
| United Kingdom | -9 |
| South Korea | 12 |
| Brazil | -14 |
| Germany | -7 |
| Australia | -8 |
| India | 3 |
Regional Markets
- Eight of the nine(2) major overseas regional markets recorded decreases in non-resident visits to the United States in January 2017: Western Europe (-4.6 percent), South America (-8.5 percent), Oceania (-5.9 percent), the Middle East (-23.1 percent), Central America (-6.1 percent), the Caribbean (-6.5 percent), Eastern Europe (-7.0 percent), and Africa (-11.2 percent). Asia was the only region to report an increase (7.1 percent).
Non-Resident Visits from Overseas(3)Countries
- In January 2017, non-resident visits from overseas countries (2.6 million) were down two percent (-2.3 percent) compared to January 2016.
- In January 2017, travel from overseas markets accounted for 46 percent of total arrivals to the United States.
Top Ports: January 2017
- In January 2017, visitation through the top 15 ports of entry accounted for 84.5 percent of all overseas visits compared to 86.4 percent in January 2016.
- The top three ports (Miami, Los Angeles, and New York/JFK) accounted for 39.6 percent of all overseas arrivals compared to 41.0 percent in January 2016.
- Six of the top 15 ports recorded increases in arrivals in January 2017. Only one port, Boston, recorded a double-digit increase.
Pleasure Travel vs. Business Travel: January 2017
- In January 2017, of the top 20 overseas countries with visits to the United States, more than 90 percent of the visits recorded from Argentina (93.7 percent) and Costa Rica (90.2 percent) represented pleasure travel to the United States. On the contrary, 30 percent or more of the visits recorded from the United Kingdom (30.3 percent), Germany (38.8 percent), France (34.2 percent) and the Netherlands (37.1 percent) represented business travel to the United States.
- In January 2017, of all overseas non-resident visits to the United States, 68.9 percent represented pleasure travel and 16.4 percent represented business travel.
Access to National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) Monthly Arrivals Data
To access international travel and tourism data from the U.S. Travel and Tourism Statistical System, visit the NTTO I-94 arrivals page: http://travel.trade.gov/
(P) = Preliminary, with these I-94 arrivals data subject to revision that may be possible with improved solutions and/or sources discovered during the reported calendar year.
(1)2017 data are based on the same criteria used since 2014, including the same visitor visa types and the ‘one night or more’ definition of a traveler. In addition, the methodology for identifying travelers with respect to Country of Residence (COR), and infilling records with missing COR data, is consistent.
(2)The nine major overseas regions are: Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, South America, and Western Europe.
(3)Overseas includes all countries except Canada and Mexico
